Theresa May is under fire over her Brexit negotiating strategy following reports European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker walked out of talks saying the Prime Minister's approach was from a "different galaxy".

Opposition parties warned the UK was heading for a "disastrous hard Brexit" after a detailed account of their meeting last week in Downing Street suggested Juncker left fearing task of finding a negotiated settlement would end in failure.

Downing Street said it did not recognise the latest report which appeared in the German Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper.

However, the reported disclosures - attributed to commission sources - threatened to sour the mood between London and Brussels before negotiations have even begun.

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The EU side - which included chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier - was said to have concluded that May was way too optimistic about the prospects for a deal during the talks at No.10.

When the Prime Minister told them "Let us make Brexit a success", Juncker was said to have replied "Brexit cannot be a success".

At one stage - to underline the complexity of negotiations - the commission president was said to have brandished copies of Croatia's EU entry deal and Canada's free trade deal which runs to 2,000 pages.

May was also said to have angered the EU side when she warned that the UK could not be forced to pay a "divorce bill" for leaving because there was no requirement under the treaties, which drew the response that the EU was "not a golf club".

He said: "Of course they are going to be difficult negotiations but you start from the basis that you want to reach an agreement, you start from the basis that you have quite a lot of shared interests and values.

"If you start from that basis and show respect, you are more likely to get a good deal. But if you start with a megaphone, calling people silly names, it is not a great start to anything."

Liberal Democrat Leader Tim Farron said: "It's clear this Government has no clue and is taking the country towards a disastrous hard Brexit."

For the SNP , Scotland's minister for UK negotiations with the EU Michael Russell said: "Leaving the EU with no deal - and no agreement on access to the single market - would be an unprecedented act of self-harm which would devastate the UK and Scottish economy."